Baudry, Bernard 2023 Chinon Les Grézeaux

One of the most pleasurable red wines of the Loire Valley, the Baudry Chinon "Les Grézeaux" is from a unique parcel of sixty year-old vines near the bottom of the slope in Sonnay (near Cravant-les-Coteaux) on a bed of gravel over a base of clay, sand and limestone. The grapes are harvested by hand of course and fermented with wild yeasts with zero SO2 added during vinification. Beginning in 2017, the wine ages in large cement vats by Nico Velo, which are slightly porous. Les Grézeaux always has an elegant silky texture and wonderful freshness, making it delicious as a young wine, combined with the ability to age beautifully for 20 years and more in good vintages. 2023 was a hot and rainy yrear, very difficult for the winemakers, but as Matthieu Baudry says "The reds are juicy, enjoyable and bursting with fruitiness, but with fewer tannins than in 2020 or 2022." Our tasting with Matthieu last winter showed a superb 2023 Grézeaux, with very fresh, very pretty red fruit aromas and a lighter palate than the 2022, with gorgeous earthy red fruits, beautifully elegant and with terrific length. Keep your wonderful 2022s in the cellar and drink this lovely wine over the next ten years or more. "The aromatics here are absolutely divine, with scents of crushed blackcurrant and blackberry, with pepper and wild rose, as well as darker veins of liquorice and chocolate. Supple and polished on the palate, textural and harmonious, with crushed bramble fruits draped over a soft tannic grip, this is savoury, dark and delicious. Structured yet fine, with touches of savoury fruit and sunshine, before a long and grippy finish. Very fine" says Chriss Kissack.